Faith's Mom's Blog

Faith began planning her 23rd birthday party about 3 months ago! Everyone sort of laughed at that time and tried to tell her she had a ways to go before her birthday. Now, just like that, it's over!  Faith's cake and some of the decorations  She really enjoyed the surprise birthday party we threw for a friend of ours last year at Pizza Ranch, so she decided that's where she wanted her party. When I asked her what she wanted for a theme, she totally surprised me by saying, "Bon Jovi!" (We listen to a lot of Bon Jovi in the van!)  I was all onboard with her Pizza Ranch plan, because that would make things pretty easy for me. I wouldn't have to worry about feeding everyone. The only drawback was that we could only get a room that accommodated about 25 people, so this year, we weren't able to invite the whole church and many others. (Faith has a lot of friends!)  The birthday girl!  On the other hand, it worked well to have somewhat of a smaller party as she h...

If I were to ask people who know Faith what one of her favorite activities is, I am pretty sure they would all say the same thing: socializing. Faith absolutely loves people. She has been a social butterfly ever since she was little.  She has always enjoyed going to therapy because she loves meeting new people, even those in the waiting room. Doctor appointments are also great because she gets to meet new nurses. She pretty much makes friends wherever she goes!  Faith and friends blowing out birthday candles when she turned 7  During her first years in school, she easily made friends with her classmates. Sadly, though, as the kids got older and since she was limited in her mobility, these friendships faded. When we pulled her out of school altogether in order to homeschool her, the hardest part was not having any friends.  Thankfully, we lived in a building that had a community room. Faith and I would often hang out there for a change of scenery. She would sit and wa...

This past week marked a huge milestone in Faith's life - she has been at her day program for 4 years! I well remember how excited I felt when I found out that in order to qualify for the program, all she needed was to be 18 and have a high school diploma.  I know that is not the case in some states. And in many cases, parents choose to have their special needs child in school until they are 21 and then after that they can attend a day program. For Faith though, since I homeschooled her, we were both ready for her to move on to her adult life when she turned 18!  Faith at the Science Center with one of her day program staff  After a few meetings with her case manager and day program staff, she was ready for her first day. But was I? She was excited when I dropped her off, but as I drove away from the building, I began to cry. Would she really be okay here? Would staff know what to do if she looked uncomfortable or seemed like she was in pain? Faith is verbal, but she canno...

Did you know there are 1 million people in the United States who have cerebral palsy? I guess that means Faith truly is one in a million!  Faith was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was six months old. Prior to that, she had been given the diagnosis of Periventricular Leukomalacia  (PVL). During her premature birth, there was a lack of oxygen to her brain, which resulted in damage to the white matter, or inner part of her brain.  I will never forget receiving that news. Faith's Dad and I were told that nobody knew what the long-term effects of PVL would look like for her. All I could do was stare at my tiny daughter lying in her isolette, hooked up to all kinds of tubes and lines, and choose to believe she would be okay.  Faith in the NICU a few days after she was born. After over 70 days in the NICU, we finally took her home to Watford City. There, she would receive regular visits from an Early Intervention team who would assess her and ensure that she met al...

One of the reasons I look forward to summer is to finally feel the warmth of the sun. Oftentimes spring in North Dakota is a little on the chilly side, and we still have to don our jackets, and sometimes even our boots, depending on how much snow is on the ground. We were blessed this year with a beautiful summer that began in May. We ended up getting lots of rain, so it remained nice and green the entire season.  This summer kicked off with a visit to auntie Dawn's. She had just bought a new house, and Faith couldn't wait to go visit her. Dawn has a really nice back yard, and it ended up being a nice day to just hang out on her back porch!  Faith and Dawn hanging out!  As June rolled around, we made a trip to the zoo , which we hadn't been to in a couple of years. It was nice to walk around in the sunshine, but we noticed the animals weren't really that active. All Faith really wanted to do anyway is take a train ride.  Instead of looking at the animals, though, she...